Help

Navigation/Organization of Website
Printing/Downloading
Technical Stuff
Searching the Website
Accessibility
Contacting the Webmaster

Navigation/Organization of Website

Persistent navigation and logical organization makes navigating our website easy.  Click on a number on the graphic below to learn more.

Printing/Downloading

When we think our visitors would want to print the information we are presenting in our website, we make it available in Adobe format (.pdf).

To print the .pdf document, left click on the link, then click on the printer icon.  Or you can left click, then click on File/Print.

To print information on a page in our website where a .pdf is not available (just a regular page), highlight what you want printed, click on File/Print, then select "Selection" under Print Range.  This way all the graphics (buttons along the top and left side) will not print.

To download a .pdf file to your computer's hard drive, left click on the link, then click on the save icon (looks like a disk).  Enter the filename and click Save.  You can also right click, then "Save Target As" (Internet Explorer) or "Save Link As" (Netscape).  Enter the filename and click Save.

(Note that the above outlined options may not be available on older browsers.)

Technical Stuff

We've optimized our imagery as much as possible without affecting the quality of the graphics.  This minimizes slow download times.  In addition, graphics are also sliced optimally to minimize slow download times.

Our website was designed so that it can be viewed as easily at 640x480  resolution as 1024x768.  No need to scroll left/right at the lower resolution.

Some services in our website open new browser windows on your computer.  For example, print-friendly versions of your tax bill can be displayed.  Unfortunately, this technology is similar to the approach used for those annoying pop-up and pop-under advertisements.  If you have pop-up blocker software on your computer, this content may not be displayed.  To work around this problem, simply suspend the operation on the pop-up blocker software, open the page, then re-engage your pop-up blocker software.

Technical difficulties can be reported here.

Searching the Website

If you cannot find what you are looking for, use our advanced search feature.  Detailed help on Searching is available on the Search Page.

Accessibility

We thought is was important to make our website accessible.  Websites are accessible if they can be used as effectively by people with disabilities as by those without.  A sighted visitor will not even notice, though.  The steps taken to make a website accessible are "behind the scenes." 

Contacting the Webmaster

You can contact the City of Northville Webmaster by clicking here.

Navigation/Organization of Website...the Details

Click on any number on the image below to learn more about our website.

One...Primary Navigation  (back to image)

Our website is divided into five major sections:  Government, Economic Development, Community, Services and Reference Desk.  These five buttons appear at the top of every page on our website. 

Two...Commonly Used Buttons  (back to image)

We also placed commonly used buttons at the top of every page:  City Directory, Calendar, Site Map, Search and Visit Downtown. 

Three...Where Am I?  (back to image)

You can identify what section of the website you're in by looking at the banner here.

Four...Of Special Interest Box  (back to image)

The overview page of each section has an "Of Special Interest" box pointing you to pages of interest in that section.

Five...Secondary Navigation  (back to image)

The buttons down the left side of your screen change depending on what major section of the website you're in.  In addition, in some content-rich sections of our website (especially the Services section), a third menu may appear at the top of the content area (see A).  Again, persistent navigation is important and our menus remain at the top, left side, and in some cases, at the top of the content area for every page in that section.  (B) and (C) appear in the menu if there are Forms, FAQs or Contact Information available for the current section that you're visiting.

Six...There's No Place Like Home  (back to image)

The home button is located at the bottom of the secondary menu.

Seven...Signature  (back to image)

The signature area is at the bottom of every page in the website.  It provides textual links to the major sections and commonly used buttons.  Also in the signature are links to a Website Feedback Form, a link to the Northville Webmaster, and a link to the Technical Contact for our website.

Eight...Accessibility  (back to image)

The signature also identifies that our website is Bobby compatible.  This means it is accessible.  Websites are accessible if they can be used as effectively by people with disabilities as by those without.